The word ‘genius’ has now been mentioned quite frequently whenever Kiran Leonard has come up in conversation. Not just does he have two years left studying at Oxford University, he has also got nineteen releases to his name already – but at only 20-years-old Kiran has an even brighter future yet. The joy of working at a music magazine is that new music isn’t far from any convocation and in late 2015 one of the Brightonsfinest writers played me ‘Pink Fruit’, the first single of Kiran’s second LP Grapefruit. The 16-minute epic defies explanation and is nothing short of a master masterpiece (certainly in my eyes). Having now seen him live and listened to Grapefruit which is out today, copious amounts of times, Kiran sure lives up to the talk. I, absolutely, had to find out more about Kiran Leonard.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a parish called Saddleworth, which is about 30 minutes north east of Manchester just before Greater Manchester becomes West Yorkshire. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere and has afforded me the ability of not having any neighbours that gripe about noise, which has made doing home recording a lot easier.

What kind of music were you brought up on?

My dad was a folk musician in the 70s and likes a lot of country & western music; like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, as well as 50s rock’n’roll, bluegrass and of course English and Irish folk. He also likes The Pixies, Nirvana and other bands like that too. My mum actually met Black Francis (The Pixies) at a party once – apparently he was really rude and then ate all the brownies at the party.

What was the first instrument you learnt to play?

I started on a mandolin. I am my dad’s fourth son, and it is something all my elder siblings and my younger sister went through as well. The idea being, what’s the point of buying a three-quarter size guitar if you will through it away in three years time. I was five when I started playing stuff on it and was eight/nine years old when I first picked up a guitar.

What was the first album you owned?

It was the first Bat For Lashes album, Fear And Gold, which was a really great record. I can remember buying Moby’s Play as well around the same time too. I don’t think I have either of those CD’s anymore.

Did you take advantage of Manchester’s great music scene when you were growing up?

When you were younger, it was hard to find an all-ages gig in Manchester. It is really annoying actually – I got a message from someone asking when I would be next playing an all-ages gig in Birmingham as he wouldn’t be let in to my show. I don’t understand why 18+ exist at concerts – the problem is easily solvable if you give under 18s a different coloured wristband. The people who need to go to gigs most are 15 to 18-year-olds! Anyway, back to the question… when I was that age and going to a gig, it was with my dad. One of the first gigs I went to see in Manchester was The Books at The Deaf Institute and Godspeed! You Black Empire back when they first reformed.

What was the story behind the album name Grapefruit?

Sorry for the boring story, but I just liked the word. The French word for grapefruit is ‘pamplemousse’ and I think that is really funny.

There are so many different influences coming out in both Bowler Hat Soup and your new record Grapefruit. What were you listening to at the time?

I wrote and recorded Grapefruit almost simultaneously with Bowler Hat Soup, so it was about a year and a half block of time which was mostly when I was at college. The bands I was listening to then was the Death Grips, Swans, At The Drive-In, Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof and Stars Of The Lid. They were my cornerstones. I don’t tend to go through fazes of listening to one thing. There is a lot of fun and potential in trying to draw strands of different influences in to one thing, however disparate they initially seem.

When creating Grapefruit, did you meticulously think of each track's subject before you started writing it or would you jam a song out until its subject would come naturally?

I wish I had thought about it more, as I feel like that is one of the biggest weaknesses of the record, that is quite incoherent. There are some songs that are quite dedicated to what they are trying to express. In ‘Secret Police’, ‘Pink Fruit’, ‘Don’t Make Friends With Good People’ and ‘Half-Ruined Already’, the lyrics are a bit more important. Songs like ‘Öndör Gongor’ and ‘Exeter Services’ are more all-over the place really, however, those tracks are about 5-years-old.

As you play the majority of the instruments on your albums by yourself, it must have been a mighty task for your band to learn your complicated compositions when you first got them together with the idea of performing Grapefruit live. Did you have to score some of the parts?

That’s what the band tell me, that it is quite complicated. It’s very difficult to tell though when you are writing it, as to me it all has a logic. We don’t learn new material at a very fast pace and I only had to score some of the drums, but the people I play with are very, very, very good and I have also played with them since late 2013. This tour is all material from Grapefruit apart from maybe a couple of songs – there are probably only about seven songs in the set as the songs are so long, three/four songs now exceed 10 minutes.

What has been a musical eye-opener?

There are several examples. The last really major one was when I first heard Bill Orcutt’s debut solo record, A New Way To Pay Old Debts. I had never ever or since heard guitar playing like it. It’s amazing and he is magnificent. I would like to think that you can hear the way he plays the guitar when I play, but I don’t think I am anywhere near nailing that yet. Other big eye-openers were the first time I heard The Mars Volta when I was about ten, the first time hearing or reading anything by John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, also when I first heard The Topography of the Lungs by Derik Bailey, Evan Parker and Han Bennink. I have always been interested in making myself aware of these supposed absolute outer limits of free improvisation.

Who would be in your ultimate supergroup?

On drums it would be Greg Saunier from Deerhoof, he is probably the best drummer I have ever seen. Then Bill Orcutt on guitar and Larry Graham (Sly & The Family Stone) on bass.

What would be your perfect line-up for a concert you are putting on and where would it be? 

I would have The Jimi Hendrix Experience playing with the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir (from Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares) in a cave.

What are your future plans?

It is to study and eat well, and also to go on tour which starts on 24^th March till 25^th August.

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